World Entrepreneurship Forum

2010 edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum and announcement of a third Founding Member

(Lyon, France – November 5, 2010) The 3rd edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum — the first global think tank dedicated to entrepreneurs, creators of wealth and social justice, with over 110 members of 55 different countries —kicked off in Lyon on November 3rd, on the topic “Shaping the World of 2050: the Entrepreneurial Impact”. The Forum gathers a global community of entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, politicians and experts who share a similar vision: to not only create financial value through innovation, but also welfare and social justice for future generations.

Patrick Molle, President of EMLYON Business School, and co-president of the World Entrepreneurship Forum has launched the conferences of the World Entrepreneurship Forum with a speech during which he encouraged the members of the Forum to work on concrete contributions to improve the process of creation of wealth, welfare and social justice by 2050.He underlined the 3 key challenges which entrepreneurs can have an impact on in the future; the world needs to create many jobs, but jobs which won’t destroy the natural and human resources to the same extent as the past 50 years; the world needs to reinvent itself with man, not profit, at the centre of its preoccupations; the world needs a new development model which reconciles the creation of wealth with social justice

He clearly stated the ambition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum to transform from a “community of entrepreneurs in the world, to an entrepreneurial world community”.

Sir Fazle H. Abed—founder of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a pioneering Bangladeshi social enterprise and now the largest NGO in the world —talked about the challenges in solving global poverty and how revolutionary business approaches need to be implemented; he stressed the importance of regarding the poor as business partners and innovators, who can and must actively participate in common development. Professors Alain Fayolle and Zoltan J. Acs—both educational leaders in entrepreneurship at EMLYON Business School and George Mason University respectively—spoke about current and prospective entrepreneurial education in OECD countries, and how future cities should play a key role in entrepreneurial development as they will welcome 70% of the world population in 2050. Mr. Elmar Mock—co-inventor of Swatch and founder of Creaholic—spoke about his passion for inventive entrepreneurial thinking, and how creativity must be preserved in the later stages of educational processes.

During the “Entrepreneurs for the World Award Ceremony, Mr. Yves-Henri Robillard, Director of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, announced a new founding member, alongside with EMLYON Business School and KPMG: Singaporean institutions Action Committee for Entrepreneurship, and Nanyang Technological University. He also announced that the 2011 edition of the World Entrepreneurship Forum will take place in Singapore the first week of November 2011.

The World Entrepreneurship Forum

Founded by EMLYON Business School and KPMG, the World Entrepreneurship Forum is an international community of entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, politicians and academics committed to making the world a better place through entrepreneurship. The Forum is a think-tank, a do-tank and a network of committed members and supporters willing to create wealth and social justice.

www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com

Press contact:

Daniela Sutan – sutan@em-lyon.com